The steps taken to preserve the health and safety of emergency responders and the public during an incident involving releases of hazardous materials are:

• A. evacuation procedures
• B. protective actions
• C. protect in place procedures
• D. isolate the hazard area and deny entry

Answer: (B)

Protective actions are the steps taken to preserve health and safety of emergency responders and the public during incidents involving releases of hazardous materials. This umbrella term covers the range of measures used to reduce or prevent exposure, such as evacuating people from the affected area, directing people to shelter-in-place, and controlling access to the scene to keep others from being exposed. The reason this is the best answer is that it encompasses all the different strategies you might employ depending on the hazard, weather, and population, rather than focusing on a single approach. Evacuation procedures are a form of protective action, but the concept includes shelter-in-place and other methods as well. Protect-in-place procedures describe just one protective action, not the full set. Isolating the hazard area and denying entry is an important safety control at the scene, but it represents a specific tactic rather than the complete framework of protective actions used to safeguard people during hazmat incidents.